Among them were firms later named as laundering vehicles for North Korean hackers and for the Sinaloa Cartel, which smuggles vast amounts of heroin and fentanyl into the United States, as well as Alameda Research, which was co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and was closely tied to Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange. Bankman-Fried is now serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for crimes related to his looting of more than $8 billion from FTX customer accounts.
While Tether sold tokens to these customers years before their alleged crimes came to light publicly, the transactions raise questions about how closely Tether scrutinized the buyers. Experts say vetting customers isn’t just to identify lawbreakers – but to understand the sources of their wealth and the nature of their business.
“A lot of due diligence is to prevent you from onboarding a customer who later turns out to be a criminal,” Alison Jimenez, an anti-money laundering expert, told ICIJ. “You need to understand where the $50 million came from.”
Tether did not respond to requests to comment for this story. Read more here.
HUNDREDS OF ARTIFACTS LINKED TO TRAFFICKERS
Even after authorities seized more than $95 million worth of antiquities from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in recent years, the institution still holds hundreds more pieces linked to alleged looting and trafficking figures, a new analysis by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists found.
FINES AND SETTLEMENTS FAIL TO DETER WRONGDOING
An ICIJ review found cancer drug makers have paid over $1.7 billion in settlements and fines over a 15-year period. But those payments often make up less than 1% of their revenues – and experts said many companies see them as the cost of doing business.
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Carmen Molina Acosta
ICIJ's digital editor |
